Outraged!

Never in my life, does a good deed go unpunished. That's just how it is. I think I am doing someone a favor and it backfires. Without fail I am left angry and wonder why I bothered. Why this early morning rant you ask? Well....it all started a couple of days ago. See, Jim and I are planning our anniversary get-away to the temple in Bismarck. The temple is only open for evening sessions on Thurs. & Fri. and then in the morning on Saturday. So we go and hit a couple of sessions and stay over night on account of the 4.5 hour drive. Well, we planned to take the green car (the theory is that if we put all the miles on that car and leave mine home more we will be able to make my car last until Kev gets home from his mission before we have to get into a new car payment) so that being the case....the green car needs new tires. But just 2 new tires since we bought 2 last August. Not sure why....I try to stay out of those decisions. Jim bought the last 2....obviously....because being new in town we hadn't found a reputable tire store/mechanic. If I walk into a tire store and ask for tires for my car the men feel obligated to charge me for changing the air in them first...no lie. Or they try to tell me that I need a new battery or spark plugs or new filters for the headlights. Seriously....even if that stuff does need replaced....I'm not the one who is going to OK it. It's just not my job. I will OK the cable guy to upgrade my internet connection or the bag boy to upgrade me to plastic bags....but I AM NOT the car guy. Never have been. So why...in a million years...I ask you...why did I think I would do Jim a favor and take the car in and buy 2 new tires? He has been so busy at work, he has had an audit this week and mass firings and a plant closing in the Sara Lee family....the guy has had a little on his mind. So he tells me the receipt for the last 2 tires is in the glove compartment and just ask if they will sell me 2 tires for that price. No biggie....right? I feel competent enough to ask for a price match. No problem. Yeah....start laughing now. I would if I were you. Ridiculous! So with receipt in hand....I enter the scummiest, smelliest most unfriendly tire shop I have ever been in. Let's just say it is no Les Schwab. As I walk in I see a guy lounging at the end of a long counter. He is greasy....but I didn't expect anyone working as a mechanic to win any Mr. Clean look-a-like contest...so I wasn't overly surprised. He watches as I nervously approach. (You all know how uncomfortable this kind of stuff makes me....the least he can do is be friendly) He just stares at me and waits for me to get ALL the way to where he is leaning. "Hi....", I nervously start.... "What do you want?" he replies. At that point I am no longer so sure this is a very good idea. I want to turn around and leave....but Jim is really busy and this will make his life so much easier... and I am nothing if not dependable. "I need 2 tires for my car....but I only want them if they are the same price as the last ones I bought here." I hand him my receipt and he smirks. "Yeah, they're the same." I was so relieved. I almost felt better....almost. He told me it would take about 30 minutes and he left. OK. Well....there is a little craft store at the end of the strip mall...I'll just walk there. So after spending 30 wonderful, stink-free minutes in Ben Franklin, I headed back to the tire store. On my arrival a different man is sitting behind the counter and a woman is next to him on the phone. Both of them stare mutely at me as I approach. Not a word.....is it just me or doesn't common courtesy require a greeting at some point? The man finally stands up and the woman continues to glare at me as if I had just interrupted some very important goings on at the trailer park. I stammered something about my car being fitted for new tires. "Oh! I didn't even know there was a car in the garage!" I feel about 2 feet tall as he yucks it up to his own little faux pas. Then from no where emerges the dirtiest man I have EVER see. It appears as though he was squeezed from the grease tube himself. He unceremoniously dumps my keys and the charge slip on the counter in front of the man...looks at me and stumbles off. "Well, let's see here. Huh, so you only wanted 2. Ok." I explained that we had bought 2 tires a few months ago. He asks to see the receipt to check if the price has gone up.....and smirks. This should have made me a little more wary but instead it just made me want out of there. "Sure enough, they are the same". He concurred with the other man and went to work with the calculator to figure the total. I give him my credit card and we conclude our transaction and I high tail it out of there. When I was a safe distance from the stench I glanced at both receipts. Gulp...there is a $50 difference. Upon closer inspection of the receipt I notice that Jim was credited for a tire return(?) to the tune of $50. Apparently I didn't warrant such a credit but still felt pleased that I had done this good deed for my honey. Fast forward to bed time. We were laying there discussing the day. Jim asked how much the tires came to. I told him about the $50 thinking he would explain it and all would be well. Oh...not so much. He was incredulous. "What? Why was it more? I told you to get the same price!" At this point in the day I was over it. I just explained that I didn't get the tire trade-in credit...didn't even know of such a thing...in fact...I'm pretty sure they charged me $5 to haul off the old ones. Then he started laughing at me. Yep.....not the nice, supportive, every thing's-going-to- be-fine chuckling....nope. He laughed the man-you-are-a-dumb-ass laugh. So what did I do? I started to cry. I know....so productive. I was just so mad. Not only did I feel like an idiot but I wasn't even sure why I should feel that way. Jim got the "tire credit" because there is (apparently) a huge mark up in tires and he asked them to give him a deal. WHAT THE HELL!! Did anyone think to tell me these things before they sent me into the lion's den? Obviously had I known the final price was not necessarily the FINAL price I could have figured out my own deal....and now the smirking made sense. They were laughing at me!! So as I boiled about that for a couple of HOURS....I decided the only thing to do is march my female self back in there and let them know there has been a mistake. I asked for the same price that we'd paid earlier and our deal was not honored. So pray for me today as I swim with the sharks again. I just LOVE confrontation so much....I just hope I don't start muttering things about pods of people and other such nonsense.